FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny maintained last night that the position of the Fás board had become untenable but the Taoiseach continued to insist that current inquiries would have to be completed before any decision on its future was made.
"The Fine Gael party obviously have an agenda to escalate this in various directions. That is a matter for them to consider. We have to allow the process of inquiry and investigation to be completed," Mr Cowen said.
Mr Kenny said that the members of the Fás board should have known about the misuse of taxpayers' money, and if they did know and failed to act they were guilty of gross corporate negligence.
"Given the constant stream of revelations of profligate spending of taxpayers' money, that had to happen.
"The only two people who seemed to fail to grasp the seriousness of the situation were the Taoiseach and Tánaiste. They have both shown appalling judgment on this matter," said Mr Kenny.
"To allow for a new start for Fás as it meets a completely new set of challenges I believe that the board now needs to change. Their position is untenable," he added.
Mr Kenny said new documents discovered by Fine Gael staff members following a five-hour trawl of documents in Fás offices yesterday highlight even wider abuse of public funds than has been reported.
These documents showed:
• €36,000 spent in one month, January 2007, on five flights to Orlando by Fás officials, including board members Owen Wills, Peter McLoone, as well as Rody Molloy;
• €28,000 spent on one room in one Dublin hotel booked for a two and a half week period. The bill includes two "banquets" on one day costing €8,000 and €9,000;
• €12,000 spent on one round-the-world trip for a soon-to-retire executive and his wife that included stopovers in Tokyo, Honolulu and San Francisco.
"There are other issues that also need to be addressed in regard to this affair. Rody Molloy should not receive a standard severance package until all these matters are cleared up and he has fully co-operated with the PAC investigation into Fás finances. Finally, I want to know if any Government Ministers benefited from Fás largesse on these international trips," said Mr Kenny.
Earlier in the Dáil Mr Cowen said that both himself and the Tánaiste had indicated in recent days that various investigations were being conducted and they would await the outcome of those.
Referring to his expression of confidence in Mr Molloy he said: "I then went on to say that I know him personally, that he has been an excellent public servant and that I have every confidence in him. That confidence was justified.
"He is an honourable public servant and he did the honourable thing on behalf of the organisation that he led and tendered his resignation to the board of that organisation. I commend him for that."
Mr Cowen added that the Tánaiste would report to the Government next Tuesday on what happens next.
Prof Niamh Brennan of the Centre for Corporate Governance at UCD said that expenses of the chief executive and board members of Fás were a matter for the board while staff expenses were a matter for the chief executive.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at Oneprogramme she said she would like to know how the expenses for the US trips were signed off. She said this was a matter that should have been overseen by the board.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has decided to proceed with its scheduled meeting with senior Fás officials today, despite Mr Molloy's resignation.
"The PAC had been investigating the financial operations of Fás well in advance of the revelations regarding Fás expenses being revealed. The PAC has already had two meetings with Fás senior management team since October and is determined to continue its work," said committee chairman, Bernard Allen.
"The examples of the activities of some Fás employees brought to the public's attention in the media are also a matter of extreme concern for the PAC and doubtless these issues will also be considered at tomorrow's meeting," he said.
